Boo-boys no bother for Ponting

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he had "loved every minute" of the drawn third Ashes Test at Edgbaston despite being booed by some England supporters as he went into bat.

It was not the first time in this Ashes series, where England are 1-0 up with two to play, that Ponting has been jeered by crowds.

So concerned are home officials, according to the London Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke has written a message in the match programme for the fourth Test here at Headingley, which starts on Friday, urging fans to respect all players.

But Ponting, writing in the Daily Telegraph, didn't appear too concerned by the boos, which he was "half-expecting".

And he labelled the Barmy Army, the much criticised and vocal England supporters' group as "the best sporting crowd in the world".

Ponting added: "There is never anything untoward. It is always good, light-hearted stuff, and when England have a sniff of winning the volume goes up tenfold.

"They add a lot to the whole experience of the Ashes.

"The Edgbaston crowd were not the first to boo me this summer - but they were the loudest. Which makes sense, because Edgbaston is famous for being the bullring of English cricket.

"Whenever I walk out of the changing rooms I'm half-expecting it. I'm thinking: 'Right, let's get it out of the way, get the booing done, and then I'll start building my innings."

The Daily Telegraph also said that Clarke would remind spectators that Ponting, the third-highest run scorer in Test history, has "earned the respect and courtesy" of the crowd and that the game "may never see his like again".

Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan said authorities at Headingley would be doing all they could to ensure spectators did not cross the line, particularly in the notoriously raucous West Stand, where drunken antics are now commonplace.

"The reputation of Headingley has been built up over many years," Regan told The Times.

"The West Stand has a reputation as a party area and we've got to break that. We've put together a series of measures to ensure that those people who want to watch the cricket are not disrupted by those who are simply there to have a good time."

Regan added: "It's about getting the balance between the Barmy Army being perceived as the official supporters of England and allowing them to become a disruptive voice at cricket grounds.

"By and large they are great supporters but there are probably a number of people who have crept into that organisation who see it as a great way of going overboard, drinking too much and causing problems for others."

However, the Barmy Army insisted its members were not behind the jeering of Ponting at Edgbaston.

"We weren't responsible for the booing," said Katy Cooke, general manager of the group. "From what I can gather it was pretty tongue-in-cheek.

"He's one of the best, if not the best, batsmen in the world and if we can get under his skin and stop him concentrating 100 percent on his batting, then we're doing a service to the England team."

Australia batsman Marcus North said being jeered by home crowds was a fact of life for opposition teams.

"A lot of us get booed out there," he told reporters on Tuesday. "That's the home-ground advantage, I guess. When England come and play in Australia, it's exactly the same for them, so it is part and parcel of the game now."